For these tents that use just two poles, I'm wondering if you can strengthen them against the winds if you added pvc pipes and attached them to the original tent poles with zip ties? I'd rebar them close to where the original tent stakes go too. I've had two good tents fail out there against the winds, and I'm trying to think of how to help the poles stand up against those winds.

Suggestion - make an exo-skeleton for your tent from 1/2 inch PVC. Stake the ends in the ground using 1/2 inch T-connectors. Use tie wraps to connect it to the actual tent poles. This will keep the tent from being blown away or collasping.

You know it's going to be a bad day when you jump out of bed and miss the floor.

The larger tent was a Coleman. I'm not sure what the smaller one was. My wife sewed the rain flaps over the netting on the tents to prevent the dust from coming in. Needless to say these tents are strictly for Burning Man.

You know it's going to be a bad day when you jump out of bed and miss the floor.

MoonSplash wrote:Geo, so you had 4 short pieces that fit individually into the top connector, not two long pieces that crisscrossed? Thanks.

Yep - four short pieces. I glue the connector to one just for convienence. The other three are slipped in and held by tension. The tee connectors are glued to the end of each piece. Caveat - I'm am no engineer but this set up has worked for me for the last couple years. My only problem has been transportation but luckily for me one of my campmates comes in a motor home so he can transport the poles on the floor of his motor home.

You know it's going to be a bad day when you jump out of bed and miss the floor.